League of Legends Character Guide: Ashe

This guide is a champion specific guide. I will not cover the basic gameplay of League of Legends in this guide. Please look elsewhere if you are looking for that information.

Ashe is one of the faces of League of Legends. As one of the original 40 champions to join the League of Legends, entire games still ride on Ashe's arrow. Ashe is a strong marksman pick for the utility she brings to a team, but she does lack in damage and mobility.

The most unique stat Ashe has is her range. At 600 range, Ashe has one of the highest basic attack ranges in the entire game. A great Ashe player will take advantage of her range with superior positioning and poke.

Initial Focus stacks are equal to Ashe's Critical Strike Chance. =----= Keep track of your passive, especially early in the game. You can tell if it is up by looking at the icon above your ability icons. When that number hits 100, Ashe will be ready to critical strike next attack. One of the most basic combos with Ashe is to Volley and follow up with a free critical strike. This is one of the strongest level one combos in the game. Most champions have to wait until level two for a spike in power. Ashe is one of the few that does not follow this trend.

Remember that your passive will not charge if you are auto attacking minions. Whenever you do not need to be pushing minions, stop attacking to build up for another critical. Good use of this passive during the laning phase can net you kills.

Proper use of Frost Shot is one of the most important things to learn when playing Ashe. Many players forget to toggle it off and on and end up wasting Mana or missing a kill. For such a small slow amount, it does have quite an impact on your kill potential.

While just turning this ability on during fights is not bad, it is a bit inefficient. You only need to turn this ability on if someone is either chasing or running from you. Remember to always keep an eye on your Mana while using this skill. You want to keep at least 60 Mana for Volley or 100 Mana for your ultimate most of the time.

Volley is Ashe's only real damaging ability. The ability is like firing a basic attack at everyone in front of you at a great range. Keep in mind that enemies can slip between the gaps of this skill, and the projectiles stop after hitting the first enemy.

As mentioned earlier, this is part of your main damage combo with your passive. This ability is decent at clearing waves of minions, and good at poking enemies. You can even use this ability to farm minions at a safe range if necessary. Since Volley applies Frost Shot's slow effect, you can use this to help chase or kite an enemy.

In laning, Hawkshot is a useful ability to keep yourself safe and to check objectives. When you enter lane, fire it off to make sure no enemies are hiding in the brushes. Before a fight you can check for enemies approaching your position, or you can use this to keep sight on an enemy who tries to juke into a brush.

As a game progresses, you want to keep this ability in mind before your ultimate. A big mistake many Ashe players make is firing their ultimate without knowing if other enemies are close enough to react to it. The goal of your ultimate is to pick someone off, which can be difficult if you are blind when firing it.

Launches a crystal arrow of ice in a line that stuns an enemy Champion dealing 250 / 425 / 600 (+ 100% AP) magic damage. The farther the arrow flies, the longer the stun, up to 3.5 seconds. Surrounding enemies are slowed by 50% for 3 seconds and take half damage.

100 Mana

100 / 90 / 80 sec Cooldown

Global Range

The main reason people pick Ashe is to fire a game changing arrow. At level six this gives you the ability to beat most lane opponents. Work with your teammates to find the best opportunities to use your arrow. You can try to snipe low health opponents from long distances, but this ability is better used as an initiation.

Remember that you are weak when you do not have this ability ready. Being extra safe while this ability is on cooldown is a good idea.

This is the current standard rune page for most marksmen. You can consider switching 4 glyphs to Scaling Magic Resist to get a mix of flat and scaling. Mana Regeneration is also an option if you run out of Mana often.

21/9/0 is the standard mastery page for most marksmen. There are players who get points in utility for the extra Mana regeneration. That is personal preference, but I prefer the survivability the defense tree gives. If I were running out of Mana, I would put Mana regeneration runes on instead.

Ashe will always take and max Volley first. It is her only damaging ability, and the reduction in cooldown from leveling makes it too good to pass up. Hawkshot is a one point wonder ability. Put a single point in at level 2 and reap the passive rewards all game.

When you return to base the first time, you want to buy a B.F. Sword or a Pickaxe depending on what you can afford. Do not waste your gold on upgrading your boots early, as you need raw damage more. Your first completed item should be Infinity Edge followed by Berserker's Greaves.

After completing your Infinity Edge, your next big item should be Statikk Shiv. I prefer this over Phantom Dancer as it has synergies with your passive. After completing Shiv, it should be late enough in the match that you need Last Whisper. Finally, Bloodthirster rounds out your core damage items.

Your final item depends on your opponents. Banshee's Veil is the general choice for a defensive item. It should be the most common choice. Guardian's Angel is also a good option, pick this especially if the enemy team has an assassin. Mercurial Scimitar is an option if the enemy team has big stun or suppression effects you need to stay out of. Randuin's Omen is a great option if the enemy team has only physical damage threats.

Homeguard is the most common enchantment for your boots. Grab it when you need to protect a tower or run to Baron/Dragon. If that situation does not come up, you can grab the Furor enchantment. It will allow you to kite and chase enemies even better.

As far as trinkets go, you should stick with the Warding Totem throughout the laning phase. Switch to the Farsight Orb after the laning phase. That trinket will allow you to be even safer along with your Hawkshot later in the game, when getting caught can lose the game.

Items I have not mentioned are not worth buying. If you do reach a full six item build, just remember to buy Elixir of Wrath. If you get enough money, sell your boots for a Zephyr.

Remember that your goal as a marksman is to deal as much damage as possible later in the game. To do that, you must get a lot of gold. To get a lot of gold, you need to farm minions. Early game, your primary focus is on farming as many minions as you can. Do not be afraid to Volley if it means getting a minion you would have otherwise missed.

You are strongest at levels one and six, so take advantage of them. At level one your combo of Volley and passive critical strike deal a lot of damage. You will always get ahead early if you get the combo off and could even get first blood. Worst case scenario, you get rid of your opponent's potion and make them miss minion kills.

At level six, your ultimate should be able to net you a kill. If you do not see any potential for a kill in your lane, you can even try landing an arrow across to mid lane. If it hits at long range, your teammate will get a kill provided they are aware of it.

In the mid to late game, you should swap trinkets. Effective use of your ultimate is invaluable. Try to only ult at long distance when you are parallel to an opponent's movement direction. I.e. shoot down lane when the opponent is moving down lane, and shoot across river when the opponent is moving across river. At close distances this does not matter as much, but remember that if people see and hear you firing it they will try to dodge.

For team fights, you are not a front line. Stay behind your teammates, as they all can take more damage than you can.

Try to not walk into bushes that you have no vision of unless all the enemies visible on the map. Instead, use your trinket and Hawkshot to check before you enter.

Finally, be mindful of your position. The worst mistake you can make later in the game is getting caught out of position, especially as Ashe. Stay away from enemy assassins as much as possible. Focus your ultimate on enemy damage dealers when possible, but do not be afraid to catch anyone out of position with it. Remember, you are the initiation for your team. Landing your arrow at this point of the game can determine which team wins.

Ashe and Varus are similar. Both have an ultimate that locks down an opponent, and both have longer auto attack ranges than most marksmen. Ashe does have a longer basic attack range, but Varus has a long range poke with his Q. This matchup is more about skill than anything. Whomever knows their champion better will win.

Caitlyn seems like she would be a difficult matchup. She is the only marksman who has more range you at all points in the game. Her poke is annoying, but you should be able to keep up rather well. Back up when she has her passive ready, and use Volley to farm. Avoid positioning behind or in your minions, as she will shoot into you. At level six you should be able to beat her with your ultimate. It's a tough matchup early, but if you can survive long enough you will win.

Sivir is the most difficult opponent for Ashe. Her spell shield can make your ultimate worthless, which is bad if you need to keep away from her. At level six you want to bait out her spell shield before using your ultimate, as it does have a long cooldown. It is difficult as she will push you to tower for most of the game.

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